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Abstract
French film director and screenwriter Julia Ducournau's sophomore body horror film, Titane (2021), like its predecessors of the same genre, examines the malleability and fragility of human corporeality. The film can be categorized under the New French Extremity, a genre coined by art critic James Quandt, who disapprovingly expressed his concerns with the rampant depictions of blood and violence in film; however, this article contends that Ducournau's film offer much more than mere shock factor and spectacle of taboo objects. Featuring a protagonist who is a manifestation of Donna Haraway's radical cyborg, Titane can be situated alongside recent debates in posthuman concerns, but more importantly, in its intersection and close connection to feminist and queer discourse. Although many have utilized Julia Kristeva's abject/-ion to examine the horror film genre through a feminist lens, this article seeks to expand on such existing literature by pointing to its emancipatory powers and its potential for a more inclusive, posthuman queer mode of being and kinship beyond the symbolic order.
Contributor Notes
Jiwoo Choi (she/her/hers) holds a BA in English language and literature (SNU) and is currently a master's student in the Department of Communication at Seoul National University. Her research interests lie in posthumanism and new materialism, in particular, the intersection between technology/media, gender, and posthumanism. She is currently working on her master's thesis, which interrogates the representation and subversive potential of various female technological bodies in science fiction films.